Fluid motor



Patented Jan. 30, 1940 UNITED]k STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,188,546 x FLUID Moron Hugo A. J, Thiesen, St. Louis, Mo'. if Applicata october 14, 1937, serial No. 168,875

2 Claims.

This invention relates broadly to fluid motors,

and more particularly to suchv motors having a plurality of rotary vaned elements, al1 connected to a driven shaft, and in which each of said ele- 5 ments adds its impelling force for rotation of said shaft, although some of said elements rotate in one direction and the other rotate in the reverse direction.

The invention has among its objects the production of a device of the kind described, which shall be simple in. construction and operation, economical in the cost of its parts and its use of generating uid, strong, and otherwise satisfactory and eiicient for use wherever deemed applicable.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fluid motor of the kind described, in which the vaned rotary wheels shall be mounted side by side so that the uid discharging from one element will pass through the next adjacent wheel to exert its rotary effort on the latter, all of the wheels being mounted so as to rotate, and the g adjacent wheels being extended past one another at their adjacent side edges so that there will be little or no loss of fluid in passing from one of said wheels to the nextand wherein there will be substantially an injector action to draw the fluid from one wheel into the next following wheel.

An added object of my invention is to construct Aa fluid motor of the kind described, in which there will be a plurality of substantially co-axially arranged rotors each of which has a. pair of series of circumferentially arranged vanes thereon, the vanes of one ser-ies being spaced radially from those of the other series,

- so that the propelling iiuid may be directed into and through lone of said pair of series of vanes to rotate the rotors in one direction, and passed through'the otherseries of venes to direct the turning of the rotors in the reverse direction.

Many other objects and advantages lof the construction herein shown and described, will 45 be obvious to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, from the disclosures herein given.

To this end, my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of 50 parts herein shown and described, andthe uses mentioned, as will be more clearly pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.v

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the views,

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view through a uid motor, showing my new invention; andy Figure 2 is substantially a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;*and

Figure 3 is a similar cross-sectional View taken along the lline 3--3 of Fig. l. Y

Referring more particularly to the drawing, wherein I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, there is shown a motor for transferring the power from a source of fluid supply under pressure, to a driven shaft from whence said power may be transmitted as desired. At this point it is to be understood that I have not limited this invention to the use of any one uid, as a source of power, but that upon the contrary, any fluid, either gas or liquid, may be used for the purpose, as for example, steam, water, compressed air, etc., nor do I desire to limit myself to any particular size of motor, but upon the contrary I may even embody the vprinciples herein set forth into the construction of very small motors, sometimes toys.

A shaft l is indicated and from whence the power may be delivered to any suitable point,

' or perhaps said shaft may have an electricalA generating unit mounted directly thereon or drivingly connected thereto, said shaft in the present instance being suitably mounted in bearings 2 2 set in to the housing or framework 3.

'I'here are Ia plurality of rotors or wheel elements arranged co-axially upon said shaft, some of them being loose on the latter and the others being fixed to said shaft, so that in eicct there are two sets or series of wheels, the wheels of one set being marked as 4 and those of the other set being marked as 5, and the latter Wheels being those fixed to the shaftas by keys or the like. In the embodiment shown, there is only a single Wheel 5, but it is obvious that if dekeyed to the shaft, all of the wheels tending to rotate the' shaft'inthe same direction although the wheels themselves may rotate in opposite directions-simultaneously, as will be more clearly hereinafter shown.

A gear 6 may be carried by the loose Wheel, this gear meshing with a second gear 1 loosely rotatable in the housing, the gearl 1 meshing in turnwith a gear i8 keyed the shaft. Hence, although the wheels ofthe two sets simultaneous- `1y rotate in reverse directions, yet they allturn the shaft in the same direction at any one time.

Each wheel or rotor element has a pair of series of vanes 8 and 9 therein, preferably adjacent the periphery of the wheels, the vanes of each series being circumferentially arranged about the wheel, but the vanes 8 being spaced radially outwardly beyond those of the other series of vanes of the Wheel. Further, on each wheel, the vanes 8 are directed opposite to those of the vanes 9.

The passages dening the vanes of. each series of vanes of each wheel opens into or communicates with the corresponding passages of the next adjacent wheel, so that the fluid discharged from one wheel may be passed directly through the next succeeding wheel. However,

and rotate the next wheel in the opposite direction, and so on through the entire series of wheels.

There are two inlets for the introduction of the fluid, preferably under pressure, these being selective so that either inlet may be used at any time while the other inlet is shut off. One of these inlets is located adjacent lll so as to conduct the :duid progressively through the outermost vanes of the series of wheels, and the other inlet is located adjacent H, at the other end of the train of wheels, to conduct the iiuid progressively through the series of Wheels in the reverse direction and, as the vanes 8 and 8 are oppositely directed, will rotate the wheels in a direction opposite to the first direction mentioned.

The housing als preferably so constructed to substantially closely enclose the rotors, as at l2, and the iluid discharged into either set of vanes may be takenod as desired, the housing being `indicated as open at the take-olf portions, for

that the uid tends to naturally flow from one wheel through the next adjacent one, rather than to `fiovv elsewhere. To this end, I preferably overlap the said adjacent side edges so that the edges of the vanes of one set, as for example the outermost vanes, 8, will extend into the next succeeding wheel at its es defining the corresponding 'vanes 8, land so on through the entire number of wheels. Now, as the wheels rotate, there will be a, greater tendency for the iiuid to passfrom one wheel through the vanes of the next succeeding wheel than to escape radially outwardly from between said wheels, and hence loss of power will be minimized therethrough, and the construction thereat will act somewhat as 'an injector to draw the fluids in the desired other set `of vanes, namely those innermost of the wheel, are somewhat similarly overlapped so that the side edges about that set of vanes overlaps the corresponding edges of the next adja- 4cent vanes. But, in order to further minimize .jacent wheel, yet any uid seeking to escape therebetween would have to reverse its direction several times in so doing, or in effect take a zigzag courseof escape.

From the foregoing description, it is seen that I have constructed a uid motor, in which there are two sets of rotors mounted on a common shaft, the rotors of one set always driven in a direction reverse to those of the other set, and arranged to drive the shaft either forwardly or backwardly, as desired, the rotors being so constructed at their portions adjacent the vanes,

that loss of motive uid is minimized.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, arrangement, construction and combination of parts herein shown and described, or the uses mentioned, except as limited by the state of the art to which this inventionappertains, or the claims hereunto appended.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

41. -In a fluid motor, a rotory shaft, a plurality of wheels arranged alternately loose and tight on said shaft, means for transmitting the rotary movement of said loose wheels to said shaftfso as to rotate the shaft in addition to the force f said fixed wheels, each wheel having two sets of circumferentially arranged vanes thereon and oppositely directed, the vanes of one set being radially spaced relative Vto those of the other set, means for admitting uid to the outermost set of vanes to drive the shaft in one direction and to the innermost set to drive it in the opposite direction, the outlets of said vanes extending past the intake of the adjacent wheel, and the consecutive wheel portions intermediate said aov setsof vanes having a plurality of cooperating ribs extending past one another free ofinter-engagement. 1 A

2. In a fluid motor, a rotary shaft, a plurality of adjacent, oppositely rotative wheels thereon, each wheel having concentrically spaced sets of circumferentially arranged vanes thereon, means for admitting uid to the outermost set of vanes to drive the shaft in one direction and to the in-7 nermost set of vanes to drive it in reverse direction, the outlet edges of the vanes of one wheel extending laterally past the intake edge of the vanes of the adjacent wheel, and the consecutive wheel portions intermediate-said sets of vanes having a plurality of cooperating ribs extending past one another free of interengagement. l HUGO A. J. THIESEN. 

